Bear Creek Falls Vicinity
Map SatelliteSeveral typical communities are found in this area which includes the Bear Creek Falls, a series of step falls separated by pools.
A conifer forest covers much of the area and includes ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, white fir, Abies concolor, and Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii. The latter is dominant in the canyon bottom. On the uplands there is an oak-chaparral association, with black oak, Quercus kelloggii, and blue oak, Quercus douglasii, forming the overstory and Ceanothus cuneatus, Ceanothus prostratus and Arctostaphylos spp. in the understory.
Animal life is typical of the region. Silver salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, spawn in the creek below the falls.
Pleistocene volcanic rocks cover most of the area; however, there are some outcrops of Cretaceous marine sedimentaries, including shale. In the shale are plant marine invertebrate fossils. There is some columnar jointing in the tuff by the falls.
Integrity: The area has been logged in parts, but some of the Douglas fir is old-growth.
Use: Research, educational, observational, Some private.
March 1978
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman